


i will spend my whole life loving you

by sylviadraft



Series: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to King's Landing [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Infidelity, Sharing a Bed, arthur has always loved elia, but rhaegar is terrible so can you blame her?, minor elia/rhaegar, not rhaegar targaryen friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 21:14:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20316112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylviadraft/pseuds/sylviadraft
Summary: “It is not like I had a choice in the marriage.” Elia replied, her voice was sweet but there was a bite of poison to her words.“I didn’t ask.” In truth, Arthur always wondered how much of the marriage was built on love and how much was built on politics. Not that he would ever ask Elia, or Rhaegar for that matter.“Why not?”This was dangerous territory, and the answer included bearing his soul, which Arthur was not about to do.“It was not important.” He lies, it is easier that way.ORArthur is Elia's bodyguard and unforeseen circumstances force them together





	i will spend my whole life loving you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willowycreature](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowycreature/gifts).

> This work is dedicated to Mani, who was kind enough to sit through my random plot points and headcanons so I could get to this point!

Arthur Dayne’s life starts to implode on a Tuesday afternoon, sometime in the middle of May. Rhaegar is holding some meaningless press conference, no doubt a thinly veiled excuse for him to talk about himself, when Oswell Whent bursts through the doors in a panic.

“A bomb, in the Tower of the Hand,” Whent scarcely gets the words out before the room descends into chaos. 

The world seems to jump into fast forward as he pulls Queen Elia Martell out of the room, through the planned escape route, and into the waiting car. Elia, for her part, says nothing, she sits stone faced in the seat next to him. Arthur shouldn’t be surprised, she always plays her role beautifully. 

They bundle her up through the backdoor of a hotel, after double checking security protocol with the managers and sweeping the top floor for threats, Elia is finally deposited into a room. Arthur lets himself breathe. 

“I need to make some calls, your grace.” Elia nods and Arthur steps out. One call to Rhaegar’s team, one call to Rhaenys’ team, and one call to Aegon’s team.

“How are my children?” It’s the first thing she has said in the last hour, and Arthur is happy to give her the good news. 

“They’re both safe. Dowager Queen Rhaella was alerted immediately and she is supplying her own guard to help alongside Rhaenys’ protection detail. Aegon’s transfer went perfectly according to plan, he is in our safest location.” 

Elia lets out a breath and Arthur can see her facade start to crack. The fear seeps into her eyes and her shoulders sag. She is more human, more like the girl he used to know rather than the Queen he serves now. 

“Is there anything else I can do, Your Grace?”

“You used to call me Elia.” Her response catches him off guard, and Arthur struggles to recover. 

“That was before you married the King.”

“I would like to hear you say my name again.”

It’s an old memory that comes over him, splashing in the Water Gardens with Elia, Oberyn, and Ashara. Elia would call him Dayne and he would call her Martell and they antagonized one another until Oberyn and Ashara grew tired and left them to their own devices. 

“Elia” Her lips were soft and the kiss was softer still. Some days Arthur thinks he dreamed up the whole thing. It was a beautiful kiss, soft and sweet and swift. Elia and Rhaegar announced their engagement a few months later. 

“It is not like I had a choice in the marriage.” Elia replied, her voice was sweet but there was a bite of poison to her words. 

“I didn’t ask.” In truth, Arthur always wondered how much of the marriage was built on love and how much was built on politics. Not that he would ever ask Elia, or Rhaegar for that matter. 

“Why not?”

This was dangerous territory, and the answer included bearing his soul, which Arthur was not about to do.

“It was not important.” He lies, it is easier that way. 

Elia let out a breath through her nose. 

“I see,” silence fills the room, “I would like to go to bed now.” 

“Yes Your Grace, I will give you the room.”

\---  
The next days are boring, there is no other way to describe them. Rhaegar goes back to the palace to resume his work, but orders the rest of the family to stay under protection protocol. They fall into a routine, change the guard, check for security breaches, watch trashy television, set up the secure line so Elia can call her children. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

It is difficult being in close quarters with her. It is one thing for Arthur to head Elia’s protection detail when they have an entire palace to move about, when there are other people who can sit with her and watch her ever movement. 

Arthur wouldn’t switch placements for the world. When setting up protection details, Rhaegar gave Elia the smallest, most icompetent group of agents. The argument that followed almost ruined Rhaegar and Arthur’s friendship, until the king finally conceded and allowed Arthur to head Elia’s team. 

“Do you want to watch with me?” Elia lays face first one the bed, her legs crossed behind her. There’s some trashy soap opera on the TV that Arthur has no interest in watching, but he sits beside her all the same. 

“My mother used to watch these.” Elia says with a smile and shifts over to give Arthur more room on the bed. 

“I remember,” He smiles “Our mothers used to push us out into the garden so they could watch in peace.” Elia giggles at his comment and Arthur’s smile widens. 

“Alright Princess, what is happening now?”

“Those two,” She motions at the TV, “Thought they were siblings but they’re actually not. And that man just found out he was sleeping with his aunt.” 

“His aunt? How scandalous!” Arthur twisted his face into faux surprise and Elia gives him a gentle shove. 

“He’s also come back from the dead.” 

“Now that is just too much, I’m starting to think this story isn’t at all realistic.” 

It was nice, just the two of them like this. For a moment Arthur can imagine a life without Rhaegar, a life without the crown. 

There is a sudden commotion from outside the door, some starts to shout before the noise is cut off with a slick choking sound. Arthur spring into action, grabbing Elia by her arm and pulling her behind him. 

“What’s-”

“Shhhhh!!”

The door flies open and Arthur raises his gun to shoot but he is met but Gwayne Gaunt

“Arthur, they’ve turned against us, the rest of the guards. They killed Darry!” He is obviously panicked and Arthur has to think quickly. 

“Take this,” He pulls a bulletproof vest from the floor by the bed before passing it to Elia, “Gwayne I need you to cover us, we have to get out of here now. Elia, we’ll go down the stairs, I need you to stay behind me.”

Her face is dangerously pale, but she nods, a strange sort of hardness in her eyes. 

“Gwayne, you check the left, I’ll check the right, and then we run like hell.”

They go together, and Arthur fires at the men approaching from the right. Somewhere behind him Gwayne grunts in pain, but all Arthur can think about is Elia.

“Go, go, go!” He pulls her down the hallway, throwing the door to the stairs open and checking for shooters before descending. Arthur doesn’t know if he’s ever ran so fast in his life, as they reach each landing he is careful to check for possible threats. 

Elia is hanging on to his hand for dear life, letting him pull her around corners and push her into walls. They finally reach the ground floor and Arthur scarcely lets out a sigh of relief before a black SVU pulls up beside them and rolls down the window. 

“Get down!” He pushes her behind the hotel into an alleyway as the sound of bullets rains down around them. “Run, run, run,” He doesn't know why he’s still telling her that, he doubts he could get Elia to stop moving for anything in that moment. 

“We have to get out of here.”

“I’m working on it!” Arthur doesn’t mean to yell, but the adrenal in his veins is too much.

“Where are we going to go?” Elia’s voice shakes, betraying her fear. 

“Just trust me, I have a plan.”

He pulls her through side streets and down alleys, backtracking and crossing their way through the city to make sure no one was following. Arthur has a safehouse of course, security officers were required to keep one for situations exactly like this one. Truthfully, Arthur might like the safehouse more than his apartment. It’s not particularly big or fancy, a two bedroom one bath that is tucked away in the middle of a quiet street. He visits every few weekends to keep the place stocked and give the appearance that someone actually lives there. 

They slow down as they get closer to the house, Elia’s breaths are uneven, whether from panic or exhaustion he doesn’t know. She hasn’t said much since they got out of the hotel, and Arthur wonders where her grace under pressure comes from. 

“It’s just up here, you’ll be safe there.”

“Thank you Arthur.” 

He’ll always protect her, he’ll always be there for her, but he pushes down the words, afraid that Elia will understand their true meaning. Elia suddenly grabs hold of him, wrapping her hands around his upper arm and leaning into his side. 

“Elia?” He stops, panicked. Elia’s face is pale, and her legs falter beneath her. 

“I’m sorry, I haven’t eaten anything today-” Arthur cuts her off, and he lifts her up, carrying her bridal style down the street. 

“I’ve got you, just stay awake sweetheart, we are almost there.” Arthur pulled her close and prays that all of his neighbors are at work. It would be very difficult to explain why he was the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms into his garage. 

Arthur somehow manages to type the code in without dropping Elia, and once they are inside he lays her down on the couch as softly as he is able. He has some protein bars in the kitchen and he grabs the whole box, just to be safe. Arthur practically has to force Elia to eat one, and then another, before she is finally able to sit up on her own. 

“I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of food-” She cuts his off with a hug, and before he can react she starts to sob into his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her, and rubs circles into her back in a way that he hopes is comforting. 

“It’s okay, we are safe now Elia, they can’t find us.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

He’s never seen her like this before, in fact, Arthur has barely seen Elia express any sort of genuine emotion since her marriage. But he pushes these thoughts out of his head and turns his focus solely to comforting Elia. 

Elia’s sobs start to decrease and as Arthur pulls back he can see her eyes start to droop. 

“I think you are tired.”

“Well can you blame me?” Her eyes are still red and her face is puffy but there is the beginnings of a smile on her lips. Arthur feels his heart speed up. He can handle armed gunmen, assissnation attempts, and bomb threats, but the sight of Elia’s smile will always undermine him. 

“Let’s get you off to bed,” 

She can walk steadily now, but Arthur helps her all the same. Elia crawls into bed and Arthur turns to go.

“Please don’t leave me.”

He is startled to say the least.

“What do you mean?”

“Can you just lay with me, I feel safer with you here.”

His brain is screaming at him to walk out, but his body has other ideas. Arthur’s legs are caring him to the bed before he can even think of everything that could go wrong in this situation. They lay there, next to each other, for what seems like a lifetime when suddenly Elia starts talking. 

“What if Rhaegar is behind all of this?”

“W-why would you even think that?” Arthur is stunned, he knows Elia and Rhaegar’s marriage isn’t exactly a fairytale, but killing his own wife? Rhaegar would never. 

“He has another woman...another girl. She’s a child, and she’s, she’s pregnant.”

Arthur felt like he was going to be sick. How could all of this happened without him knowing? How could Rhaegar do this to Elia? A woman he never deserved in the first place?

“He wants a divorce. He asked for a divorce. But I’m sure it would look so much better if I tragically died.”

“It’s not true it can’t be true. None of us would be better off without you, not even Rhaegar.”

“Sometimes...sometimes I think I’m just as bad as he is.” 

“You’re not, Elia how can you say that?”

“Let me finish,” her words are shaky, and Arthur nods in encouragement. “You see I...I wanted to be unfaithful, all these years. But I am better than him because I stayed true. Years of temptation and want, right next to me, and I never gave in.”

Something bubbles in Arthur’s chest, he cannot tell if it is jealousy or hope. 

“Hmmm.”

“Arthur are you listening to me?” She turns to face him and their arms brush, “I wanted to Arthur,”

“Who did you want?” The question comes out as a whisper, for he is afraid of the answer. They are so close now, if he so much as twitched they would be touching, and he wants...he wants...

“You.” 

She’s kissing him then, but it is nothing like before. It is needy and passionate, and beautiful all the same. 

“Elia, Elia, Elia,” Her name is his prayer and he never wants to speak another word as long as he lives. 

“Please, Arthur I want this. I need this, I need you.”

They are only Arthur and Elia, children playing in Dorne, teenagers kissing in the Water Gardens. Arthur has no will left to fight, no mind to care for Rhaegar in that moment. The entire fucking kingdom could be crashing down around them and none of it matters. There is only her, Elia, Elia, Elia. 

Arthur dozes off afterward, with her in his arms. And when Elia reaches out for him in the night he gives her whatever she desires. She is his first love, his last love, every part of him that matters belongs to her, and he is happy to share. 

The morning comes too early and Arthur couldn’t care less, not with Elia sleeping beside him. She stirs next to him, and Arthur doesn’t think he’s ever seen such a beautiful sight. He leans down to kiss her forehead, and Elia makes a content sound before moving closer to him. 

“I have to run a few errands today, you’ll have to be alone for a while.”

“Ugh,”

“We need food, also I need to inform your family that you’re still alive.”

“I wish we could stay here forever,” Her voice is a whisper “but I would miss my children too much”

“And they would miss you.”

“Aegon would, I’m not so sure about Rhaenys.” Her words are sad, and she seems to regret them almost as soon as they’re spoken.

“What do you mean Elia?”

“She loves Rhaegar more, she always has. Aegon is mine, my son, my boy, he always has been. But Rhaenys...she...she hardly seems to care for me.”

Arthur reached out a hand, and lifted Elia’s chin before settling his arm on her shoulders. “Rhaenys is the heir, she has so much pressure to be like Rhaegar. And she is young, you were always closer to your father at that age.”

Elia rolls her eyes but Arthur can see the understanding set in. Arthur wonders how much he’s missed, all those years watching her, never really seeing what was happening. 

“It will get better as she grows older, I know it will.”

They lay in silence for awhile, Arthur finds comfort in Elia’s slow breathes, until finally Elia propels herself from the bed.

“I’m hungry,” 

When Arthur finally leaves Elia is sitting at the kitchen table eating one of the long expired protein bars from the night before. Arthur chooses his steps carefully, walking for a couple miles before he even starts to think about finding a payphone. With everything that had happened between him and Elia, Arthur hadn’t spent much time thinking about the problem at hand. 

“This is an unauthorized line, who am I speaking to?” Arthur didn’t recognize the voice that picked up, but that wasn’t unusual. 

“Arthur Dayne.”

“Holy shit-I, I mean, I mean what is your access code...”

Arthur calmly recited his code and fought the urge to roll his eyes. The palace didn’t know if they were dead or alive so it only makes sense that whatever newby they put on phone duty would freak out. 

“I have orders to transfer you to the king’s direct line.”

“Wait no don’t-”

“Arthur?” Rhaegar’s voice was full of worry, and in that moment Arthur didn’t know if he was more likely to kill the king or kill himself. 

“It’s me,”

“Fucking hells, where are you? What happened?”

“There is a leak Rhaegar, it’s someone from the inside. Elia’s fine,” Don’t tell him the truth, don’t tell him the truth, “I can’t give anymore information, I don’t know who’s behind all of this.” If its you so help me gods I will kill you myself.

“Seven hells, alright, alright,”

“You might want to pull Rhaenys’ security, let the Queen handle it, do you trust all of Aegon’s men?”

“Yes, yes, more than I trust my own.” 

Arthur breaths out a sigh of relief. He knows that Elia would never recover if anything were to happen to the children. 

“I need to go soon, I don’t want anyone to be able to trace this call.” He’s not being entirely truthful, Arthur already chose a phonebooth far enough away from the safehouse that no one would be able to figure out their location.

“Alright, alright...be safe okay Arthur?”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll call tomorrow.”

He hangs up the phone, and waits a moment, working to fight the shame boiling in his stomach. Arthur doesn’t know if it’s shame for what he has done, or what he will continue to do. 

The walk back to the house takes even longer than the walk there, Arthur stops along the way to pick up groceries and dinner. He is careful to watch his back, he won’t risk anyone trailing him back to Elia. By the time he gets home the sun is starting to descend, and the sky above is golden.

“Elia it’s me, I brought dinner.”

She’s sitting on the couch, her hair pulled back into two messy braids, wearing only a worn out “King’s Landing University” t-shirt, (his “King’s Landing University” t-shirt) and a pair of knee high socks that once belonged to Ashara. 

“I brought you, uh, vegetarian noodles, from the Dornish restaurant down the street. I’m not sure how good they are-”

“Thank the gods I’m starving. How are my children?” 

“Safe,” He does his best to ignore the patch of her thighs that appears as the shirt, his shirt, rides up. Elia twirls around the kitchen, pulling plates and silverware from the cabinets and placing them neatly on the table. It’s the most domestic Arthur has seen her since...well since ever. 

“What did you do all day?”

“Sit around...sleep...miss you...” She’s grinning at him over her noodles, the sauce is smeared all over her lips and Arthur fights the urge to lean across the table and kiss it off. 

“Elia,” 

“Arthur,” She mocks his warning, “So what did you do today?”

“Got food, did some surveillance, called your husband.” That sobers her up quickly. 

“How is Rhaegar, disappointed by the news of my survival I’m sure.”

“Elia-”

“Don’t use that tone with me, I don’t want to talk about it.” 

An uneasy quiet falls over the room and they finish the meal in silence. Elia scraps her fork angrily over the plate, seemingly unbothered by the sharp noise it creates. Arthur does his best not to stare, but he can’t help it. Even when she’s upset with him, Arthur can’t look away. She clears his plate for him, marching defiantly to the kitchen, her braids swinging behind her. 

Arthur sits alone at the table for awhile. He wants to go help Elia with the dishes but he worries that his presence will only serve to anger her further. Elia Martell is a mystery to him, she always has been. As a child he would sit and watch her for hours, trying to figure her out. It has taken his entire life to realize she is too magnificent to ever truly understand. 

“Arthur?” He sits upright at the sound of her voice, and before he can wait to hear the rest of the sentence he is already moving towards her. 

“Yes-” The sight of her cuts his words short. She is sitting on the kitchen counter, his shirt hiked up to her mid thigh, her feet crossed. 

“Arthur, I need you.” Her words are coy but there is something dangerous about her eyes, something needy and hungry and impossible to deny. She smirks, and begins to shimmy her underwear down her legs. Arthur’s mouth is on hers before they hit the ground. 

He wraps his hands around her head, one holding the back of her hair, the other caressing her cheek. She moans, and pulls him in closer. 

“Elia we, Elia I,” Rhaegar’s voice is in his head and the guilty feeling bubbles up again. 

“I don’t want to belong to him anymore Arthur, I can’t be that person, I want to be free. I won’t be his every again. I’m yours Arthur, I’ve always been yours.” She’s grabbing his belt, pulling him in closer, and her words are enough to push him over the edge. 

She wraps her legs around him and Arthur moves his hands to her thighs, lifting her into the air in one swift motion. He walks to the kitchen table, laying her down gently, before pulling back. Elia is beautiful, flushed cheeks, wild dark hair, plump lips, she is a vision in the golden light. 

“Tell me I’m yours Arthur, tell me I’m yours.”

“Mine, you’re mine Elia, you’ll always be mine. And I’m yours, forever.”

“Mine, always, mine.”

It’s passionate and comforting and nothing like Arthur has ever experienced before. The world goes dark around them, but Elia shines so brightly he doesn’t even notice. Afterwards they move to the couch, Elia lays on top of him as he strokes her hair and it’s like Arthur has never been happy before this moment.

\--  
The following days are like a dream, Arthur doesn’t talk to Rhaegar when he calls in anymore. The operator says that Rhaegar is away, whatever that means. When he’s not checking in with the palace he is lounging around with Elia, playing board games, watching Jeopardy, listening intently while she teaches him how to make vegetarian food. 

“We just have to wait until the papers are signed, and we’ll be free.” Elia whispers most nights. She has a grand plan, there's an acreage in Dorne she’s always wanted but Rhaegar would never let her have. 

“What will your title be?” Arthur wonders one night, but Elia doesn’t really seem to care. 

“I’d like to be a Princess of Dorne again, I’m done with the crown and all their ridiculous names. I’d like to simply be Princess Elia once more.”

Their last day in the house starts just the same as all the others. Arthur wakes first, kisses Elia on the forehead and goes to start breakfast. She meets him in the kitchen a few minutes later, hair still ruffled from sleep. They sit at the table, eating and smiling, before Arthur heads out to make his normal call. 

The air in the house is different when he comes back, and he knows right away something is wrong. 

“Arthur?” Elia’s voice has a sort of pain to it, an uncomfortableness, and he snaps into bodyguard mode in an instant. Peering around the corner he sees Elia, white faced in front of the television. 

“Elia what’s-” He looks up to see an image of Tywin Lannister in handcuffs. 

“Palace authorities have confirmed that Tywin Lannister was the mastermind behind a bomb threat that forced most of the Royal Family into hiding two weeks ago. His motives are still unclear, but some sources suggest Queen Elia Martell was the target of this attack.” The blonde report keeps rambling on about strategies and possible punishment, but Arthur’s attention has moved to Elia. 

“Fucking hells,” 

“Are you okay?” 

“I mean, I knew he never liked me. But this...”

He can’t imagine what is going through her mind in that moment, but he moves close to comfort her. Elia grabs him as he approaches and pulls him close. 

“We’ll have to go back to the palace now.” Her voice is shaky. 

“Yes, yes we will. But it won’t last long, we’ll be together soon, truly together.” 

As he stands there, Elia in his arms, Arthur feels real true hope for the first time in a long time. 

“Together,” Is all Elia can say, “Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first work I've ever actually finished, I haven't written fanfic in years so hopefully it's alright! This is part one of my Modern Day Westeros series! We won't see an Arthur POV again but he and Elia will show up in the next part so stay tuned!
> 
> Also, check out my twitter @catlyntully for fancasting, updates, and assorted game of thrones ramblings!


End file.
